My greatest desire in life is to make a living performing on stage and to inspire others to adore the performing arts just as much as I do. That is my big “Pie in the Sky” goal that may seem small to some. However, when put in the context of growing up in a small town in Wisconsin with fewer than 3,000 people, a high school that didn’t have a strong performance program, and a lack of immediate talent, this dream is taking a significant amount of dedication.  Now, what inspired this dream? For that, I can somehow thank COVID-19, specifically the year of staying home. Even more specifically, it was probably my 23rd time rewatching Newies the Musical Proshot during the “King of New York” dance break that this idea first introduced itself. I mean, I have danced all my life in every style possible and listened to musical theatre since birth (just ask my mom, whose choice of music for me was Les Misérables), but singing and acting were never really on my radar. In fact, I had several people in my life who told me I was not a great singer. Well, I hate to be told I am not good at something, so I started singing in my bathroom for 15 minutes a day. After years of slowly increasing these exercises, I now find myself studying for a Bachelor’s of Music in Musical Theatre and a Minor in Dance at Carthage College. As a sophomore in college, I thought I would have a clear path of how to study and practice towards my ideal life, but that is not the case. I have a problem taking breaks, so after 3 semesters of 4 mainstage productions, 3 performance department jobs, 2 minor leg injuries, 1 faculty fellowship, 1 booked professional contract that unfortunately fell through, and insistent practice, I was left extremely burnt out.  Which leads me to this upcoming spring semester, which I am now naming “Lydia’s Mental Re-Assemblé.” (Yes, this is a ballet pun.) My goal for this semester is to achieve a better balance between studying, relaxation, and maintaining mental well-being. I always love to learn new things and strive to be better, but I need to be more cognisant of fueling myself to give my most productive work. With a lighter class load this semester, I can finally join another Dungeons and Dragons campaign (after several years of not playing), attend more sporting events, actually see my friends who are not in the Musical Theatre program, and hopefully more. With less on my plate, I also have more room to schedule practice. I plan on putting 1-hour slots in my calendar for things like vocal and dance practice, so I don’t feel pressure to be constantly going. I also plan on doing more research with my time. Sure, talent is crucial in this industry, but having correctly formatted headshots and a resume, as well as knowing which theatres are good to audition at, are also equally important.  Is this going to be the correct path to achieve my “Pie in the Sky” goal? I sure hope so. If not, there is still time to re-evaluate or tweak the plan again. I am trying my best not expect a perfect plan as that simply is not going to happen. I need to trust that hard work does indeed pay off, I am already seeing (and hearing) its effects, and cannot wait to see where this journey takes me.

Sometimes you don’t realize just how much of an impact something has on you until you consider life without it. As I sit in my bedroom, reflecting on this idea, I look at the silhouette stickers of dancers and pointe shoes hung on the wall, and realize that the arts have completely shaped my life. I started dance classes when I was 4, encouraged by my mom, who had danced with the same teacher. Through the years, that studio became a second home to me. A place where I could leave everything at the door and express myself through music and movement. In a world full of anxieties and deadlines, the only thing to think about is my supporting leg and landing the pirouette on count 5. My teacher was always so supportive, and I dreamed of becoming a dance teacher when I was older.  These feelings started to change when I was stuck at home in 2020. I fell in love with singing and acting. And nothing describes COVID-19 better than a hyperfixation hobby and an unworldly amount of time to do it. Musical theatre just made sense to me; I could express myself through music and stories that I love, all while still dancing. I was amazed that I hadn't thought of this sooner. Unfortunately, this didn’t make sense to everyone else, specifically my dance teacher. The idea that I wasn’t pursuing dance alone didn’t sit well with her. Suddenly, a space that seemed so safe all my life became a struggle to attend. Students who missed for sports simply were told “okay,” while I was ridiculed for showing up late after a musical rehearsal I choreographed and danced for! Backhanded comments started coming out of nowhere. This left me so frustrated, as I still loved dance, but I couldn’t get over the fact that the woman I had known and looked up to for most of my life could change so suddenly.  This made my college decision extremely important as I needed a place to reignite the spark that was quickly fading. That’s when I found Carthage College. While a tiny campus for the arts, it’s very quickly gaining notoriety. However, what got most of my attention was the faculty. Professors who took the time to know their students and wanted them to succeed. While I could list many of my professors whom I would now credit with being huge inspirations to me, I really want to point out two of my dance professors, Rich Ashworth and Emily Winkler. Rich was my tap professor on campus and was the first to truly reintroduce anxiety-free dancing. I don’t think there were ever 10 minutes in his class in which we weren’t dying of laughter. This didn’t make his class easy. In fact, there were several times I was called out during class to fix technique, and plenty of talks on how to improve. He always wants to see us do better, but makes the whole experience incredibly fun! Emily provides such a safe space to grow. I have never felt bad for making a mistake in her class. Her insistent but encouraging corrections come from a place of “you’ve got this” rather than the annoyance and anger I was so used to. Both of these professors are people I now look up to the most. Not only are they incredibly talented performers, but they hold dance as an artform in such a delicate and joyful way that I’m now able to finally reclaim my love for an art which I almost lost.

“Vincent” by Josh Groban, “Bicycle” by Queen, and the cast album of Les Misérables. This may seem like an unusual combination at first; however, these were the three answers 5-year-old me wrote down as favorite music on a 'get-to-know-me' assignment. Music has always been a significant part of my life. From my dance classes, the theatre productions I loved to be a part of, my uncles who are both (currently or previously) band members, and my parents' CDs in the car, music has been everywhere! The desire to pursue music, however, didn’t come until the end of middle school. My dream was to attend college, studying dance in the hopes of performing or choreographing at a professional level. Then, as I am sure everyone is aware, the world shut down during a global pandemic. COVID-19 meant less time spent in school, no human interaction outside of home, virtual dance classes, and way more free time than I knew what to do with. It was during one of my many times watching the Newsies Proshot that I first considered musical theatre as a career. The only issue was that I couldn’t sing. Being incredibly shy, my voice was weak, quiet, and had less than an octave of comfortable range. But with so much time on my hands, I was going to make this work. I started going to the bathroom with my Bluetooth speaker for 15 minutes a day. Long story made short, practice makes better, and at the end of high school, I was accepted to Carthage College for a Bachelor's of Music in Musical Theatre. I feel that while currently in college, my eyes have been opened once again as to how much music can impact people. I always looked to music for entertainment, but I can now see and feel that it means so much more. Music is special in that you can be feeling anything and still enjoy it. There is music for celebration and disappointment, love and betrayal. Music is there for us in whatever we are going through and is an outlet of emotional creativity. That’s the type of music I fell in love with at college, music that can move people, not just entertain. I’ve always loved musicals that make me think and leave me wanting more, and that is what I want from those who watch me. I want them to feel the same amount of appreciation and emotion that drove me to desire this in a career for the rest of my life.  Of course, there are musicians and performers I look up to; Kelli O’Hara, Rebecca Luker, and Joshua Henry, to name a few. However, as of late, it seems the people I look up to most are the ones I see every day. I get to admire my professors in all their success, booking new shows, and even competing on American Idol! Even better, I get to cheer on and look up to the peers around me as I watch them grow every day in class. If feels so refreshing and rewarding to finally be in a place where people admire music and performing as much as I do. And these relationships I make now are what I want to be remembered by. Not what I created, but how I impacted those around me, and for my love of musicianship and meaningful work.

As a lifelong theater fan, I can proudly say I have been listening to various musicals since infancy thanks to my mother. My love for “Wicked” didn’t come until high school, strangely enough.  I was familiar with the show before that. I knew of the songs and the basic plot, especially considering my friends were obsessed with the show. However, at that point in my life, I was kind of hiding the fact I was a theater kid. I regret I did so now, but I felt subconscious about the fact that I adored theater so much that I wanted it to be my profession coming from a low-income family in a small town in the middle of Wisconsin. Because of this I listened to different music in public and continued in sports for a while. However, after a global pandemic and plenty of time to discover who I was as a person, I was no longer ashamed of my love for the arts.  Soon after coming back to school, it was announced our school was going on a trip to New York City!  In fact, Wicked was the first show I ever saw on Broadway and to say it was impressive is an understatement. Ask my friend who started laughing at me when I started sobbing at the overture. Not my proudest moment in my life but I am in a theater degree for a reason, I have plenty of emotion. Needless to say, I downloaded the soundtrack right after leaving and listened to it the entire way home. Which was impressive for a 16-hour drive on the way home on a bus with about 50 high schoolers.  During this time, I started to notice the connections I had to several of the songs in this show. The best example I can give with the song “The Wizard and I.” That was the first time in my life that my passion for performing had made sense to me. Not just for the sake of performing that song because that’s a given. However, the lyrics were what caught me off guard. The idea that once you succeed “no one thinks you’re strange” and the fact that you can love something so much that “[you’ll] want nothing else ‘til [you] die” meant and still mean so much to me because it made me feel seen. For the first time, I realized that other people can also have lifelong passions and that they are not something to be ashamed of but something to fight for.  And it wasn’t just the songs that made me feel this way either. I started to see myself in Galinda or should I say Glinda. Seeing someone act a certain way in public for the sake of those around her felt like a mirror at the time. The way I hid my love of the arts and my desire for it to be a career was to fit in and aspire to get a job that is stable and will pay well. However, after seeing the show and how that ended for Glinda was a big reason I became more comfortable with my true self as I didn’t want the same ending for myself feeling as though I was alone and the cause of it.  I could talk about my love for “Wicked” all day, but I will contain my love into just “One Short [Essay].” Without “Wicked” I can’t imagine where life would have taken me and am so proud to say I am a “Wicked” fan.

Real and true passion is something hard to come by and isn’t easy to obtain. So, I am very proud to say that I have a passion for performing arts, more specifically, musical theater.  I have loved singing, dancing, and acting since I was little, and am at my happiest when I am performing! That being said, most of the volunteer and community service work I do lies within the performing arts. Simply because I love performing so much, I want others to feel the same as I do and to see how far they can go with a little hard work. My main community service activity was being a dance demonstrator at Dance Studio 3-D for over 5 years.  While I also took my own classes several times a week, I volunteered for a certain number of hours every week for a year.  During this time, I served as a helper in the class.  Meaning I had to demonstrate new steps to dancers of various ages (4-17) as well as memorize their choreography. Being put in a position of leadership with kids comes with the added responsibility of being a role model as these kids continue to grow up. This can be stressful at times to always be in check of behavior not just in class, but anywhere they may be in public as well. That being said, this doesn't feel like volunteer work to me as spending time with kids who love the same thing as I do and being able to help them learn something new is incredibly rewarding. Not to mention it brightens my day when one of the students I work with comes to say hi to me when I am out and about. Although it does make me feel old when I hear myself being called “Ms. Lydia” but I digress. And I will say that I almost cried when I came back home for the first time from campus, and a little girl I had demonstrated for told me she was now demonstrating just like me! On top of this longer-term volunteer project, I also offer my services often at St. Paul’s Liberty Lutheran Church.  For 5 years I have taken time out of the November and December months to help choreograph and teach dances for their Christmas Programs. Just like with demonstrating, it is so rewarding to see children enjoying performing each dance just as much as I would, as well as seeing how proud their parents are for how hard they have worked and how it is paying off. I also have spent the last couple of years volunteering as one of the church’s cantor singers. This essentially means I help lead any singing portions of services that aren’t group hymns. Depending on the time of year, this can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes in an hour-long service. While all of these service-based activities happen to fit my general interests and hobbies, the main thing they bring to the community is joy. I have been told numerous times by students I help or by those who are in service when I sing, that it brings them joy to see someone helping who cares about the work in front of them. Plus, if I can make people happy or at the very least, make their day a little better than it was before, then I have completed and will continue to complete my service.

Who would have guessed that in my freshman year of high school, I would be studying from my basement at home and videotaping myself as four different characters getting into an argument during a road trip? Yeah, if someone guesses that one, I will be thoroughly impressed. The reason for this wonky performance during the COVID-19 pandemic was that I had joined my high school’s forensics club. As an already budding theater kid who wanted to pursue musical theater, I was looking high and low for opportunities to improve my performance as I am from a microscopic high school. A small town in the middle of Wisconsin with about 200 students in the whole high school, needless to say, there weren’t many options for theater or any type of performing available, especially with a growing pandemic at the time. I longed to be in full shows, sing ballads, and dance in the show choir, however none of that was happening. So, when I found out that the public speaking group, forensics, had acting categories I dived in. To this day I know not why I decided to go with a humorous monologue over a dramatic one. I hadn’t done a lot of comedy before and honestly, I wasn’t too comfortable with it at the time so trying to jump between 4 different characters with very contrasting voices was a struggle for me. However, because it was something new, I spent a lot of time on it and had a blast doing so. It gave me something to do and a way to annoy my parents which is just what every good pre-teen wants so it was a win-win. After starting to love comedy, I started to notice its impact in the shows I was watching as well. Even my favorite sad musicals had comedy in them. For example, my favorite show of all time, “Les Misérables” has a decent amount of comedy including a full song for comedic relief. And without those moments the show would be way too heavy and hard to watch. Comedy is what allows truly serious theater to exist as well as shows dedicated mostly to comedy. Long story short, my big lesson in discovering this was that comedy was not just something you could choose or opt out of. It is something every performer has to be proficient in because it will be in every show without fail. After this moment I proceeded to go on to play many “comedic” roles including Sophie Sheridan (Mamma Mia), Rusty (Footloose), and Hope Cladwell (Urinetown). These are some of my favorite roles to date and was the reason I also stuck with humorous acting through every year in forensics. Currently, I am trying to get into my college’s improvisation group, “Merely Players” on campus. My first audition was a no, however that doesn’t stop me from trying again next semester. I am also looking forward to joining the cast of “Head Over Heels” next semester as part of the ensemble in a more comedic show. Now the question I dreaded through all of high school (because musical theater was an interesting response coming from a small town of low income.) Honestly, I used to joke that what I wanted to do in theater was whatever would pay, but that wasn’t necessarily a lie. I love theater and performing in general and am fully ready to either take my career to show people how much I love it or teach people and inspire them to love the performing arts just as much as I do.

2002 was an amazing year for movie releases. This was the year of well-known favorites such as "Star Wars Attack of the Clones", "The Lord of the Rings Two Towers", "Spiderman", and more. However, there was one movie that should have gotten more recognition than was given, "The Count of Monte Cristo". I think it should be said that I did not read the book or see the movie first. My first encounter with this story was the musical by Frank Wildhorn. However, that was enough persuasion for me to read the novel as a part of my AP Literature class in high school. Needless to say, this became one of my favorite classic novels ever: it was fast-paced, had an intriguing plot, interesting, dynamic characters, several plotlines, and was easier to understand than previous classic books I had faced. As for the movie, I was scared to watch it. I adored the story as I had read it, so I was nervous to see how another person would transfer a 1,276 novel to a 2-hour-long movie. After much self-persuasion and learning about the super-talented cast, I gave it a try. To say this movie is a masterclass in transferring a novel to the screen is an understatement. Was it entirely accurate to the novel, absolutely not, several plot lines were cut and the ending was altered. Even despite this, it is one of the best movies demonstrating how to honor a book while recognizing the transfer of mediums of entertainment. This is my favorite revenge-oriented story of all time and the movie captures that idea perfectly. This story teeters very closely between revenge from evil and revenge for the sake of frustration. It is only with the cutting of several outlying plot lines and characters that the movie can show this very important difference. This means that we are spending more time with Edmond in prison than some people would like, but through that sequence, we see just how much he suffered in his 14 years (a good portion of the novel as well) just so we can see how that is impacting his revenge on the people who sent him to the Chateau d’If and not him just being thirsty for violence and wrongdoing. When talking about differences between novel and movie the ending is one of the most prominent. Specifically when referring to Mercedes and Edmond’s relationship. In both stories, Mercedes marries Fernand after being told Edmond was “killed.” Once she learns Edmond is alive she leaves Fernand. It is after this that her plot varies. In the book she does not reunite with Edmond and leaves to live a quiet life elsewhere as Edmond is upset she married someone else. This was without a doubt my least favorite part of the book as women back in the 1800s women did not have much of a choice about marriage. So in the movie when they get back together, I was thrilled as that is the ending I had pictured from the get-go. And I appreciate that this movie didn’t spring this change out of nowhere either. They set this change up brilliantly by adding a token Mercedes kept to prove her love and changing her son’s father from Fernand to Edmond (also giving more of a reason for her to marry quickly after he left.) Is there more I could talk about with this movie, absolutely! This movie will forever affect how I judge book adaptations in the future. However, these are some of my favorite aspects of the best bookshelf-to-big-screen adaptation ever!

Community service has played a huge role in my life. Yes, I could say that just for time and scheduling, but that would be a lie. For me, community service has brought so much happiness and fulfillment into my life, as well as many great relationships with people of all ages. It is a chance to share what I know in the fields I am most confident in and help those around me feel the same joy I feel through various activities and productions. That being said, most of the volunteer and community service work I do lies within the performing arts. My main community service activity is being a dance demonstrator at Dance Studio 3-D for over 5 years.  While I also take my own classes several times a week, I volunteer for a certain amount of hours every week for a year.  During this time I serve as a helper in the class.  Meaning I have to demonstrate new steps to dancers of various ages (4-17) as well as memorize their choreography. Being put in a position of leadership with kids comes with the added responsibility of being a role model as these kids continue to grow up. This can be stressful at times to always be in check of behavior not just in class, but anywhere they may be in public as well. That being said, this doesn't feel like volunteer work to me as spending time with kids who love the same thing as I do and being able to help them learn something new is incredibly rewarding. Not to mention it brightens my day when one of the students I work with comes to say hi to me when I am out and about. Although it does make me feel old when I hear myself being called “Ms. Lydia” but I digress.  On top of this longer-term volunteer project, I also offer my services often at St. Paul’s Liberty Lutheran Church.  For 5 years I have taken time out of the November and December months to help choreograph and teach dances for their Christmas Programs. Just like with demonstrating, it is so rewarding to see children enjoying performing each dance just as much as I would, as well as seeing how proud their parents are for how hard they have worked and how it is paying off. I also have spent the last couple of years volunteering as one of the church’s cantor singers. This essentially means I help lead any singing portions of services that aren’t group hymns. Depending on the time of year, this can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes in an hour-long service. While all of these service-based activities happen to fit my general interests and hobbies, the main thing they bring to the community is joy. I have been told numerous times by students I help or by those who are in service when I sing, that it brings them joy to see someone helping who cares about the work in front of them. Plus, if I can make people happy or at the very least, make their day a little better than it was before, then I have completed and will continue to complete my service.

Reading a book can take you on adventures to different places you would never get to experience in real life. Reading allows you to escape from day-to-day reality and there is no better book to remind you of this than "Kind of a Big Deal" by Shannon Hale. This tale follows the story of Josie, a young nanny who picks up reading as a hobby after meeting a boy at a local bookstore. However, with the help of some magical reading glasses, she is taken into the worlds of each book she reads and is given the chance to write her own story in each one. After some obvious concern, she realizes just how wonderful these experiences are. Who doesn't want to be a comic book superhero, battle "Zombloids", fall in love with a highway thief, or get to star in a new Broadway musical? While this book does an excellent job of showcasing the magical things a reader can experience, showing people who don't typically read what they might be missing out on. It also brings up an opposing view that some avid readers should hear. Do not let reading overtake your real life. Towards the end of the novel, Josie ends up having a hard time pulling herself from a story where she finally gets to live her dreams of being a famous actress. She had originally promised herself only one night on stage, however, this soon turned into several months. After all this time she was not able to simply leave the book as she had in the past. Displaying that as much as being in a fantasy world can be a marvelous brief escape from the stresses that life brings, it is also just that, a brief escape. While it is more than okay to set aside some time to read almost all of a 400-page book, whoops. It is also important to remember that many magnificent experiences and adventures are waiting for you just outside the pages of a book as well. Overall, these two opposite views are the reasons why everyone in the world should read "Kind of a Big Deal" by Shannon Hale. Whether you are a new reader wanting to learn what good could come from reading a book for fun, or a dedicated reader who needs to learn to sometimes put the book down, this story has a message for everyone.